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TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP BY COCA-COLASeptember 10, 2014Billy HorschelATLANTA, GEORGIA THE MODERATOR: Want to welcome Billy Horschel. Congratulations on your victory at the BMW Championship. A lot of different ways to earn your way to the championship. Some are awarded for a great regular season. You've had two fantastic weeks with a runner up and a victory at the right time leading up to the Playoffs. Talk about East Lake and where you rank in the FedExCup standings. BILLY HORSCHEL: I'm excited to be back here. My first time here was last year, and I was like, man, this place is sweet. The course is sweet. It's unbelievable when you have 30 guys in the field. I think it's the smallest field I've ever played in. And it's just‑‑ it's rewarding to know what kind of season or at least a stretch of golf you've had to be here. And like Chris said, last year‑‑ this year's been different than last year where I started the FedExCup I think 5 or 6 and I didn't play very well the first three weeks and still was able to get here based on how well I played in the regular season. This year's been a complete 180 from that, where I haven't played very good this year until the last two weeks. But that's why we have the FedExCup Playoffs the way they are, where you can get hot and do some special things and have a chance to get here again and win FedExCup and $10million, which can go a long way. Q. Can you just explain what winning such a big tournament does for you in terms of confidence moving forward and how maybe it sort of changes you in that way? BILLY HORSCHEL: Yeah, I think any kind of tournament you win as a player brings you confidence. But winning that tournament, especially what happened at Deutsche Bank, unfortunately, on that Monday on the last hole, to come back and just prove to myself really that I knew I could get over something that happened on the 18th hole where I had a chance to win and then come back and play as well as I did and as solid I did for four days and win the BMW Championship and get myself here at the TOUR Championship, because my goal after I missed the cut at Barclays was now I've got to play well at Deutsche Bank to get to Denver. And then once I get to Denver, let's focus on Atlanta. I played so well at Deutsche Bank I knew after that I was safe enough to be here at TOUR Championship. So a little bit more of a free ride, freewheeling it a little bit at BMW knowing I was already here at TOUR Championship, and my goal was let's see how high we could get up on the FedExCup point list coming into the TOUR Championship. Winning that was huge, getting my second victory, especially with the guys chasing me, had McIlroy, Bubba Watson, Sergio Garcia, Ryan Palmer, and Martin Kaymer. There were some really stud players behind me, done some unbelievable stuff in the game of golf so far. And for me to hold them off brings me a lot more confidence that I can play with the best players in the world and go toe to toe and come out on top. Q. You said that $10million can go a long way. Most players stood up there and say it's not going to change them, they're not going to go out make any extravagant purchases. Does it mean something different to you and what would it mean to you to win that much money? BILLY HORSCHEL: It's not going to change me, I guarantee you that. I think as most of you guys know, I'm still the same person I was before I won Zurich Classic. I'm no different, still very open, still very honest, positive guy. But the $10million for me, when I think about the chances of winning that, I'm not thinking too much about it. But for me it just means that people that made sacrifices for me to be here and to be playing the game I love to death, I can take care of them a lot more. That's my parents. That's my brothers and some other family members and friends. I can reward them with bringing them out to tournaments and paying for vacations for them whenever they want to go. That's what it is. I'm not going to be going buying 20,000‑square foot house or a brand‑new plane or anything. That's not my style. I'm still a very low‑key guy that likes‑‑ I just like to take care of the people who have done so much for me in my life. Q. Bubba said if you were to win the FedExCup he might retire earlier. Would you like to see Bubba win the FedExCup? BILLY HORSCHEL: Ah, no. (Laughter.) I could say something right now and not be very good. I mean, it wouldn't be bad but, it could be construed wrong outside this room. No, it doesn't matter to me. Q. Seriously, this run you've been on, the last couple of weeks, it kind of reminds you of Houston last year and then New Orleans, that nice stretch you had. Does it feel the same to you, and if it does, what do you have to do to get to the point where you don't have the big dip between the next one? BILLY HORSCHEL: It sort of feels like that where when I tee it up doesn't matter how my practice sessions early in the week is going. I know I'm going to play well. Right now sitting here I feel like I'm going to play well. Feels like on Sunday I have a chance to win. Does that mean I'm leading going into Sunday, I don't know. But I know I'll have a chance to win on Sunday. But to be a little bit more consistent, there's a couple of things I think that we've tried to work on this year to be a little more consistent player. That's my short game needs to be a little bit more consistent on a daily basis and my wedge game from 120yards and in needs to be a little more spot on. It's a little‑‑ both those areas are a little inconsistent. Short game we need to work on some technique stuff and it's getting better. Right now it's probably just shot selection around the greens, what type of shot to hit from certain lies and everything. Just learning as a player. Because I feel like I do have really good feel. I have good hands. I feel like I could be a really good scrambler short‑game guy but I don't need to be a top 10 scrambling stats. My ball‑striking is really good. So if I can just get somewhere top 75, top 50 scrambling on a yearly basis and have above‑average wedge game, I think I'll be on a more consistent basis. And the reason that is, just I'm not always going to hit the ball great. So days that I do have a little off day with the ball‑striking, my short game needs to step up and save me. That's what we're trying to work towards right now. Q. What is a common misconception people have about your job? BILLY HORSCHEL: I think people‑‑ we live a great life. We get to go travel around the world. We get to go play unbelievable golf courses, get to meet a lot of great people. But I think what people don't see sometimes is that how much work we actually do put in to practicing and getting ourselves ready to play. It's not let's just go hit a couple of balls and play nine holes or 18 holes. It's four or five, six hours probably on the golf course. And then maybe another hour, hour and a half in the gym or with the trainer or getting a massage or getting worked on, make sure your body is right. So I think just the amount of time that we put in on a daily basis out here is sort of‑‑ I think people understand that, and then when people realize‑‑ when I have friends and family I may have spend the day with me out at the golf course, they're like: I didn't realize how hard you guys work out here. You guys really do work hard. So I think that's the one thing that's a little misconstrued about our job. Q. Social media is kind of an interesting element when someone like you has a lot of followers is very visible. You mentioned Twitter I think on TV after winning. Is that a tough thing, where you're in the public place where people can kind of attack you when things go bad? BILLY HORSCHEL: Yeah, I mean, it's the way this world works. It's a little bit easier now to be attacked because of the way social media is. But like I said, it doesn't‑‑ I know I've talked a lot about it and said it doesn't bother me. Honestly it doesn't really bother me. I think it's hilarious that people want to knock you down when you're on top or doing something. It's just the way things are. And I don't have it nearly as bad as maybe like Poulter or Bubba Watson or some other guys that have talked about it. I think I'm very respectful. I'm not afraid to get in a friendly debate with people about things. I try to be very respectful to their opinion and treat them the way I would like to be treated. And if they still want to come at me like that, then that's fine. That's the type of person they are and I can't change them. I'm just going to try and have a fun conversation with social media. I think that's the greatest thing, is that you and I can have a debate about something, whether it be Florida football game, about how my team may stink and I don't think they do type deal, or Brian Wacker's Miami Hurricanes, he thinks his team is better than mine this year, we can have a friendly debate on Twitter, that's fine. That's what I love about social media, being able to interact on a more global basis the fans than you could if you're out here on the golf course. That's what I love about it and I will always treat it like that. And if people want to come at me, that's fine, that's the way they are and I'm just going to try to be nice to them. If they want to keep doing it, then let them do what they want to do. Q. Overall you like it? BILLY HORSCHEL: I like it. I think it's a great thing. There's a period of time I tweet some stuff. Other times I don't. I think at the same time you've got to be very cautious on Twitter because when you just put words online, it's not expressing the way you want it to be expressed. Sometimes it's tough. Obviously I'm an emotional person so the way I would say things may come across differently if I said it in person to you than if I said it on Twitter. It could be a little more harsh on Twitter when I'm sort of joking around. It's tough to get like that on Twitter. But I love it. I'll do it for the rest of my life. And like I said, I think it's great for interaction. It's great for my sponsors. They get a lot out of it. I get a lot out of it. So some guys have a love‑hate relationship with it. I got a love‑love relationship with it. Q. What's the most hurtful thing anyone's ever said to you as a golfer? BILLY HORSCHEL: Man, I don't know. Honestly I can't tell you because there's only a couple things that people say to me that will really tick me off a lot. And no one's ever come close to saying it. It's not really about my golf game, it's not really about me, it's more sort of‑‑ I don't want to give away something. But nothing as a golfer. I've shanked a shot at McGladrey at No.5 in 2011, and I wasn't‑‑ people say whatever they want to say. I hit golf shots. Hit some bad golf shots at times. It happens. Nothing has ever really attacked me as a player. I think if anything it's probably not hurt me but sort of made me feel bad about myself because I expect such a high level of myself, and that's just the way I act it out on the golf course. Sometimes if someone brings it up on Twitter or family ask or friend brings it to me up in private, just the way I may have been out on the golf course or acted or treated or wasn't respectful with other players or my other playing competitors and I should have done better, that's when I feel bad. I feel bad that I let them down. I feel bad that I let the people that care about me down. That's the only thing that‑‑ doesn't hurt me, but that's when I feel bad that I did something wrong. Q. Back to prize money again, the legendary Arnold Palmer turning 85 today‑‑ happy birthday, Mr.Palmer‑‑ what impact do you feel he's had on the game in general, not just in terms of popularity but also on the increase in prize money over the years? BILLY HORSCHEL: Happy birthday to Mr.Palmer. I mean, he's done so much for our game of golf. Sometimes I think about if we didn't have Mr.Palmer around when TV started covering golf and it was becoming a big deal, we wouldn't be in the situation we are right now. When TV started showing golf and he was there, he's a charismatic guy. People loved him. People loved the way he played golf and he interacted with the fans. I think that really sort of sparked the boom in golf and got more people involved. And then Jack and Gary came along and has done so much for the game, too. And then you had a guy named Tiger Woods come along and take it to another level. But it all started with Mr.Palmer. And every guy out here owes a lot to him as well as Tiger for filling their pockets with money. And I'm one of those guys. I'm very happy that I've had both of them pave a great path for me to make a lot of money and make a great living out here. Q. So who do you look up to out here? Rory came out looking up to Tiger; Tiger came out looking up to Jack. Do you have somebody who you look up to, A? And, B, do you feel an additional responsibility now as you start progressing through and winning tournaments? BILLY HORSCHEL: First part, who do I look up to? Three guys I looked up to a lot before I got out here were Fred Couples. I loved the way he played, seemed so nice and easy and relaxed out on the golf course. Greg Norman, I loved the way he was such a fiery guy. Maybe not nearly as fiery as I was but he was just so focused out there and the way he looked and the hat that he had was just something completely different than anyone else. And then obviously Tiger Woods is another guy I've looked up to before I got out here. And those are I think three great guys that I've tried to, when I was growing up, look up to, try to model my game after, try to be like a little bit. And since I've been out here there's a lot of guys I still look up to and try to take things from, whether it's their game, the way they act on the golf course or the way they interact with fans. So I feel like as a person I'm always trying to learn. And there's just not one person that I can learn everything from. I feel like you can always learn something from anybody no matter how small it is. We could go play golf for 18 holes and I'll be watching what you do, maybe something I pick up. May not be golf, may just be the way you do certain things, I'll be like: You know what? Maybe that's something that could help me. So I'm always very observant and always trying to learn and seeing if there's something that possibly could make me better. Q. Do you feel an added responsibility, as you start progressing and playing better, to the game? BILLY HORSCHEL: Sorry? Q. You talked about Arnold. But in your case, do you continue along‑‑ if you win the FedExCup, would you feel an added responsibility? BILLY HORSCHEL: To grow the game, in that sense? Yeah, I do, right now I feel like I can help out with growing the game. I try to do so much with kids that enter, that want to get into golf. I try to help out a lot with the University of Florida golf team. I go back there, help out with the team. I want to do more. I would love to‑‑ down the road I do want to start my own charity and foundation and I do want golf to be involved where younger kids get involved. In the sense that they may not come out here to the PGA TOUR. But in my mind I think golf can help them so much in life. The First Tee is amazing, what they do, because they introduce them to the game of golf and can lead them in so many ways in life in the sense that when they get a job, you know, they play golf. And their boss may like to play golf and they get the job. And the boss wants to have them go play golf. They go out, have a great time. The boss loves them promotes them to do something else. I think the game of golf needs to keep growing. And there's certain things that I think needs to change a little bit to grow the game a little bit more. I think we need to have more fun with the game of golf. I'm trying to have more fun out on the golf course. And the game of golf doesn't have to be just a straight line, robot‑type thing you can show emotion out there have fun with it as long as you're being respectful to the game of golf being respectful to the course and being respectful to your competitors. I get people on Twitter hate when I turn my hat backwards when I walk off 18 green after certain rounds. Listen, there's nothing wrong with having my hat backwards. That's not disrespectful at all. It's just a different way to look, a different look. So showing that golf you can have fun and it's not just a country club sport. Anybody can play it. I think that's the way we need to go about getting younger kids in, let them have fun, showing them that golf isn't just a robot sport that you gotta act this way or you can't play it. Q. I wanted to know what you do to mentally to prepare yourself before a tournament or a match, and do you still get nervous? BILLY HORSCHEL: I always get nervous. I always have butterflies before a round of golf. I think the majority of the guys out here do. It's just for me, when I feel nervous it's the competitiveness in me wanting to do well, and I'm looking forward to the challenge of what that day may bring. So that's‑‑ I'm anxious. I'm excited. It may not be a bad nervousness but a good nervousness, I'm actually alive and feeling something. And to prepare for a round of golf mentally, I try to‑‑ for me, I'm such a‑‑ everything I do is very fast. I talk very fast. I play very fast. So I'm always trying to‑‑ the night before or that morning I'm sort of doing maybe a 10‑ to 15‑minute meditation session where I'm just trying to control my breathing and that's all, just by myself, no TV on, no nothing, just getting ready for that round of golf and being able to control my breathing, because it goes a long way out on the golf course if you‑‑ for me, if I get going quickly, then I can sort of calm myself back down with just focusing on my breathing a little bit. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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